joshnc

I live in Charlotte, nc and Bike Line has horrible customer service and the owner is a *****hole! Avoid this bike shop at all costs.

zpl

If you're out to bad mouth someone, at least back up your claim with an anecdote. What horrible customer service did you experience? What did the owner say/do to you?

Scott

joshnc

When I walk into a store such as a bike shop, I expect to be greeted with a hi may I help or can i help you find something. Not just walk right past me and say nothing at all. I am not out to bad mouth anyone. I would like to know which LBS to avoid if I visit your town. Do you understand?

richard_dupp

Morgantown WV, avoid Wamsley's. Just began looking for a 5.2 Madone, they ask list plus. Got prices a couple of other places, $3100, and $3199. Saleskid's next sentence is "Well if these other shops want to give their bikes away..." So I thanked him and walked out in mid sentence. Wamsley's is close, but because of their arrogance and independence I bought my last bike in Charleston, WV. I'll go back, they are great, got a good deal and good service. It is only about 185 miles, but you know the golden rule, "Never take any $#!+ off someone you are handing money too."

This is obviously the short version of the crap they hand out. You will find others that feel the same. Flip the coin, Pathfinder is great, they just do not carry Trek and I am lusting for an 08 Madone.

brianallan

PERFORMANCE ftw!

balsingh

Since I really haven't experimented with bike shops in my town, I would have to say Bikes Etc. in Redding, CA. However, I think it'd be more productive if we concentrated on our best LBS so we know where to go as opposed to knowing where we shouldn't. Just my two cents. Anyways, our best would have to be The Bike Shop.

richard_dupp

Dunno about you, but I would also appreciate being waved off from the bad ones as well as knowing the good ones.

damocles1

The one in town with the 350 pound manager...

Nothing says "great shop" than a morbidly obese guy running the place...

Sirrobinofcoxly

Dukes on Queen. Better walk in with your wallet open for all the sales staff to see if you want any service.

The.Pits.

Zyler

This couldn't have come at a better time. I just had a horrible experience with one of the "Cincinnati Magazine: Best in the City" shops. Jim's Bicycles. Great reputation expecially service. I didn't see it.

Anecdote: I came into the shop 6 weeks ago to see and try a Orbea Orca. Walked around for a long time until someone asked me if I needed help. The owner, Jim, told me they didn't have any built, but they just got one in and would have it built up soon. I got a voicemail 2 weeks later to come in. Once I got there, they told me they made a mistake and called the wrong person. Told me to try a Linksky. Set it up COMPLETELY wrong for my size. After rocking my hips for two blocks, I returned. He said, "that was a short ride." I told him to call me when the Orbea was built up. No call for 4 weeks, when I called them, he said, "Nope, I don't have an Orca." I told him I was waiting for his call. He asked me my name, I told him who I was..."remember, the one who you incorrectly called?" He said, he did have an Onix, etc. I told him no thanks. I thought he had an Orca. I told him, well I give up. His reply as he hung up the phone, "sorry sir."

I don't expect the red carpet, but that was pathetic for a shop with this reputation.

CycleSport in Cincinnati has it's problems too. The lady who co-owns it yelled at my 4 year old when he spun the pedals of a bike on a rack. She then gave me her opinion about bikes using many expletives with me holding my son. They also illegally charged my wife's credit card when she returned the wrong item and they didn't notice it until later.

To be fair: Smittys, Oakley Cyclery and Biowheels totally rock. My next bike will be from them.

operator

Good thing we don't have a ****** like you as a customer around here. Judginig people based on their appearance? Damn that must be new around here.

GNB

The Performance Bike in Sandy Springs in GA sucks big time!! I dropped two bikes off for routine service and they said it would be a week. It sounded like a long time but I didn't need them for a while so I figured ok. I call them in a week and it's not done but they say by tomorrow. I call them back the next day and they say it will be one more day...I am pretty irritated at this point but I figure one more day is no biggie so I wait. I call them back the next day and they say their repairman has been out this entire time and it's going to be another week. I was so pissed at that point I just went and picked them up and droped them off at the Cycleworks on Roswell Road and they were done the next morning...it cost about $10 more dollars at Cycleworks but it was definetly worth it. Performance...if you want people's business don't flat out lie to them and waste their time. They definitely lost a customer for life!!

-GNB

MONGO!

I live in Portland, OR, haven't had any "bad" experiences with ANY of the many LBS, but there are def. few I consider "big box" and a few that give a more personal service.

My fave store is Veloce, great service and they seem to have a lot of great used bikes in there.

vantassell

I like these stories

shabbasuraj

I love Performance.. always have what I need, cheap.. and always ship fast, and accurately.

Now that I said that... my next order will end up in Africa.

VanceMac

In my experience, Performance is very good at what they are. Which is more than I can say for many (not most) LBS these days -- which is why Performance makes money.

cc3chan

Actually, I had a good experience with them. My bike had some trouble and they checked it and found the cassette lock ring came loose, tightened it up for me.

I also lost a cleat screw and they installed it for me. All of this for free and I didn't even buy my bike from them. Depending on how busy they are, you do sometimes get forgotten.

But better than my experience at D'Ornellas on Lawrence. My first time going there on my bike, and the first guy I meet there tells me that I can't bring my road bike into the store.

I looked around and it was before the spring season and there was almost nobody in the store. There was enough space to leave at least a couple of bikes around the store. He told me they don't have space for me unless I have work to do on my bike.

I turned around and left, heading in the opposite direction to Cycle Solutions by the beach. Their store is smaller than D'Ornellas and yet I've never see them tell a customer to leave their expensive bike outside. They actually told me to bring it inside and found a spot for me to leave it for the time being.

bjkeen

In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, I have an onion to hand out, but folks'll have to pm me to hear about it. But day-amn.

In PG County, Maryland, I hand out an orchid to College Park bikes next to UM on Knox. When I need a frame chased and faced, they do it right, and when my colleague brought in his Tommassini (sp, yeah) frame to get the threads in the BB chased that'd had the BB machined (chamfered) for a certain kind of Mavic BB that was popular in the early 90s they knew what he had pretty much while he was holding it in his hand 3 feet away before he had to explain it to them.

adam

+1 and -1

I personally had sh*t service from them a long time ago. They sold me a bike (I was new to the sport) that was 2-4 cms bigger than I should be riding. I didn't know, they must have been clearing the floor. Told me to stand over the top tube and if it's just touching your nads... you're all good. I rode that bike for a few years with barely a 1/2 inch of seatpost showing and 175mm cranks. Brutal.

So... I tell my good friend who's in the market this past winter for a new bike. We are nearby one day so we pop in and he gets a fantastic deal on a last year's model Cannondale with full Dura Ace. Great service, they sales guy was fantastic and very knowledgeable.

Hopefully my experience was due to sh*t sales staff at the time (late 80's), but as we read here... maybe not.

cam117

I actually like Jim's a lot. Nice selection of bikes, shoes, and other accessories and seems like nice enough sales people. I've only been in there twice though.

My favorite shop for ow to mid range bikes, tools, accessories, service and little nick-nack stuff is definitely West Chester Cyclery. They have absolutely the most unpretentious staff of any shop I've visited in the city. They actually even make it a point to talk to you when you walk in the door (apparently a rarity in bike shops). My only complaint is that they are frequently out of stock of nick-nack crap that I've gone in their to buy.
https://www.westchestercyclery.com/

Glowing Anecdote: I went into WCC the evening before my first double century with a stripped cleat plate thingy in one of my shoes. They didn't have the exact model that my shoe needed so the guy pulled one out of his Sidi repair box and then proceeded to spend about 10 minutes grinding it down to the same shape as the stripped one. When I asked him how much it was, he said not to worry about it - it was fun. Freakin Amazing. I'll definitely buy my kids' bikes there and I might buy a road bike from them in the future.

Wheelie Fun is the hands down the best shop in the greater Cincinnati area for anything multisport. No conversation. The staff is full of guys that race and they seem to do an exceptionally good job with bike fitting. I bought a bike from them before I really knew about Westchester Cyclery. I was happy with the purchasing process, fit, and service. However, they can fall into the "ignore you for 10 min while you wait for someone to help you" camp. Still, if I ever buy an tri bike or maybe even a high end road bike, Wheelie Fun will most likely get my money.
https://www.wheeliefun.com/

I bought my first road bike from Cycle Sport. Weird, weird, people. I'm not going into the details, but I've never met any business owners that I was more turned off by than the couple that run that place. They have the worst people skills of any sales professionals I've ever met. However, the guy that I bought my bike from, Bob I think, was awesome, but I don't think he's there any longer. Based on conversations with many people that feel the same way, I'd recommend that you not spend your money at CycleSport.

oilman_15106

The bad ones have already gone out of business.

yak

My lbs is the only one in town. I don't know how he stays in business, seems he caters to the toy bike market. He's a moron - I've watched him set a headset with a hammer.

I had bought a floor pump there, and it kept blowing off my tire as I tried to reach 170 psi. The gauge goes to 210. I bring it back to him and he starts arguing with me that the pump was not made to handle that kind of pressure. He finally agrees to replace it, takes my number and says he'll call me when it arrives. Never called.

A year or so ago we stopped by to get some air after flatting and having c02 issues, and he uses a compressor that can only reach 70 psi and he doesn't even have a friggin pump in the place. Later that day we see him outside a store in the next town over, and he's trying to locate some address we never heard of and is asking if we have a cellphone. We all said no, even though we all had one. F U you moron - go find a pay phone.

Luckily, the surrounding towns have some good shops.

Machka 

Personally, I'd rather hear about the best LBSs in a city ... after all, if I happen to be passing through that city, and something goes wrong with my bicycle, I'd rather know where to take it instead of where not to take it.

qqy

Duke's on Queen is hit-or-miss and it totally depends on the person helping you. When it's busy, expect it to be slow.

brianallan

I thought they made money because people obsess about components over frames & wheels and are duped by inferior house brand products. They often employ people that know jack **** about bicycles. The American consumer isn't known for his intelligence,